Bringin' It Down A Notch...Or Two

You may recall from the "Rizzo" days my '55 Chevy Stepside--the same one I said would retain its dual parallel leaf system for its daily driver duties. Well, age and distance have taken their toll (I've since moved quite further from work, and the age thing, well...) and the old truck and its pilot just ain't what they used to be. At the 2001 SEMA Show, I dropped by the Total Cost Involved booth and struck up a conversation about their four-link kit for airbag applications. Thinking I might as well bring the underpinnings of the pickup closer to today's standards, I became sold on their application, but that only solved half my problem. Looking at me like I had just fallen off the proverbial veggie truck (an effect I've been known to have on many), the folks from TCI "suggested" their IFS as the obvious companion. Fine. So the sometimes-difficult task of choosing appropriate components was handled--now I just had to get everything installed.

Despite a normally hectic schedule, TCI worked out a few days to do the rear suspension on the '55. Being that the four-link is a relatively easy job, it was a definite drive-in/drive-out type of deal. As for the frontend (which you'll have to wait till next month to see the results), I thought it best to give TCI a little break, opting to have Temecula Rods & Customs wrap things up. And since the IFS is not a bolt-in, it took a little more time, but once they had finished with the last detail, suffice it to say I was one happy camper. We'll leave all those details for Part II.

Before we move on and let the photos and caps do the talkin', let's briefly run down what the rear four-link setup entails. For starters, the locators were provided in stainless steel, but are available in regular steel as well, and feature laser-cut frame and rearend bracketry. Although the brackets for the rearend housing are not bolt-on items, the kit we're dealing with includes a Ford 9-inch, so that's not an issue in this case (they can be ordered separately). A bolt-in, square-tube crossmember provides mounting for the shocks, while a weld-in piece provides that for the airbags, and 1/4-inch boxing plates with C-notches allow rearend clearance and frame strengthening. Speaking of the rearend, again, the Currie-based unit was supplied with a TSD third member, which in laymen's terms is a modern posi, complete with 11-inch drum brakes. The airbags are Firestone's Ride Rite sleeve-type with a standard compressor and 2-gallon air tank. Being that the bolt pattern would be going from six (stock Chevy truck) to a 5x4.75, a new set of wheels was necessary, so Wheel Vintiques steelies with '56 pickup caps were ordered along with a quartet of BFGoodrich Silvertown wide whites (6.70-15 all 'round). You'll also notice in the lead shot that the pickup's sportin' 18- and 20-inch American Torq-Thrust IIs with Toyo Proxes 35-series radials--we borrowed those from a photo shoot for sister publication Custom Rodder just to see how they'd look...it's a toss-up which style best suits the '55.

All right, hopefully you've got the picture now...let's move on to the real pictures. Stay tuned for next month's wrap-up of the frontend install at Temecula Rods & Customs.